Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2026.
Mary Margaret Sarazin was born in Henderson, Minnesota on March 15, 1860, daughter of Jean Francois Sarazin (1827-1860) and Elizabeth Bender Sarazin Hein Fabel (1831-1902). Grandparents were Jean Nicolas Sarazin (1790-1852) and Anne Marie Tissieres (1795-1845); and Franciscus Mathias Bender (1804-1853), who died at sea on the way to America with his three children, and Catherina Jungels (1799-1847).
When she was three years old, Mary Margaret and her parents moved to Chanhassen, where she spent her girlhood days.
Mary Margaret Sarazin married Joannes Cornelius Monnens (often recorded as John Cornell Monnens) (1855-1926), an immigrant from Limburg, Netherlands, at Chanhassen. Joannes’s parents were Johannes John Gerhard Jan Monnens (1827-1887) and Marie Catherine Solberg Monnens (1810-1867); and grandparents were Joannes Jan Willem Monnens (1793-1858) and Gertrud Elisabeth Dieters Monnens (1786-1866); and Joannes Jacob Solberg (1781-1867) and Elisabeth Custers Solberg (1779-1827). John Cornelius came to America in 1867 with his father.
Mary and Joannes moved to a farm near Marystown, Minnesota in 1882, and they resided there. Mary was a thirsty, industrious woman, very interested in her home and home affairs. She was a loving mother and a kind friend.
Mary and John had 13 children: Maria Elizabeth Lizzie (1879-1951); Mary Catherine (1881-1900); Frank Jacob (1883-1897); Anna Katherine Katie (1886-1961); Cecelia Louise (1888-1969); John Bernard (1890-1891); Paul John (1892-1961); Harry Gerhard (1894-1951); Adolph Joseph (1896-1969); William Francis Frank (1897-1976); Lawrence Henry (1900-1980); John Frederick (1902-1958); and Walter Dominic Monnens (1904-1969).
Mary Margaret’s husband, John, died without warning on June 5, 1926 at their home, which was located about three miles south of Shakopee. John was in town and returned that afternoon feeling fine. A few minutes before he died, John walked toward the lake shore with two men who had come to hire a boat for fishing. While standing not far from the home they laughed and talked with them when he suddenly wavered and would have fallen if the two men hadn’t supported him. They brought him to the house, and as they arrived he had a heart attack and died.
John Cornelius Monnens’s burial happened at St. Mary’s church in Marystown on June 8, with the Rev. James Klein officiating, and then was buried at the cemetery near the church.
Mary Margaret Sarazin Monnens had a stroke of paralysis in 1928, but she recovered from its effects. Two years later, in 1930, she was stricken again, and her death followed one day later.
The funeral was held from St. Mary of the Purification Catholic Church in Marystown. It was one of the largest funerals held there for a long time. It was attended by neighbors and many friends. Rev. Father Klein was the officiator, and the pallbearers were six grandsons, Raymond and Paul Geis, Roman and Clarence Luce, Sylvester Scherer, and George Graff.
Mary was survived by four daughters and and seven sons, along with her full sister, along with one half-sister and two half-brothers.
The deceased with a member of the Christian Mothers Society of Marystown, who attended the funeral as a body. Mary Margaret Sarazin Monnens was buried at the cemetery next to the church.